The imp of the perverse

Wednesday night, I lost a ton of chips. $80K worth, to be precise. The maximum starting stake at two consecutive tables. Both hands that I rode to the felt, I had no business going all in on. What's more, I knew as I was going all in that I had no business doing it -- both times. Edgar Allan Poe called such behavior "the imp of the perverse".

This is an excerpt from my April 1, 2011 post. In yesterday's session, the imp struck again. In shouting distance of the money bubble, I hit the rail on a hand where I went all in after flopping top pair with a good kicker. The problem with my hand was that my top pair was pitiful - sixes. I should have folded that hand every day of the week and twice on Sundays :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    88000   1200       9      230   63    97       0

delta: $-100,000
2025 balance: $-275,000
2025 blue distance: $275,000
balance: $16,022,303
MTT NLHE ITM pct: 41.58 (1284 of 3088)

The imp of the perverse

I had a shortened session last night, as I fell prey to the imp of the perverse once again. I lost most of my stack on the hand where the imp struck, and hit the rail a few hands later. Here's how the imp hand went down: I was dealt A8o (ace eight offsuit), and flopped trip eights. The turn was a queen; I put in a good sized bet and got one caller. The river was another queen, giving me a full house of eights full of queens. My opponent, who I had position on, bet over 500 chips, and I knew there was a good chance he had a queen in his hand. That would give him a better full house than mine. However, I couldn't bring myself to lay my hand down. I paid to see the queen.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      74   21    33        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,115,768
2021 balance: $1,744,000
blue distance: $1,928,000
balance: $79,409,453

The imp of the perverse

The most memorable hand of last night's session was the one I rode to the rail in the first tournament I entered. I had pocket queens, and by the river, there was a pair of nines on the board. I bet my two pair, and was raised enough to put me all in if I called. The imp of the perverse struck, and I called. Of course, my opponent had a nine. I knew he probably did, but ignored what I knew. That's why they call it the imp :-) I got under the lights in the second tournament I entered, so the session had a happy ending.

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000 26000       6      89   21     -        0
MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       6     139   36     4   409000

delta: $159,000
MTT NLHE balance: $21,927,668
2020 balance: $14,705,343
balance: $76,513,353

The imp of the perverse

Last night, I hit the rail with a great holding - cowboys (pocket kings). I was ahead the whole way until the river. The river put the third card to a flush out there, and my opponent bet big enough to put me all in if I called. I knew I should fold, but couldn't bring myself to. Needless to say, I lost to a flush. The imp of the perverse struck once again :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000 26000       6     102   24    41        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $20,007,668
2020 balance: $12,785,343
balance: $74,593,353

The imp of the perverse

I first used this blog post title on April 1, 2011. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

Wednesday night, I lost a ton of chips. $80K worth, to be precise. The maximum starting stake at two consecutive tables. Both hands that I rode to the felt, I had no business going all in on. What's more, I knew as I was going all in that I had no business doing it -- both times. Edgar Allan Poe called such behavior "the imp of the perverse".

Doing something you know you have no business doing is the quintessence of the imp. Last night, the imp struck again. After narrowly missing the money in the first tournament I entered, I jumped right into another tournament, one with a much bigger buy in. I should just have cut my losses and called it a night, but couldn't summon the will.

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       6     221   60    68        0
MTT   NLHE   174000 26000       6     151   42    66        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT NLHE balance: $8,975,668
2020 balance: $1,953,343
balance: $63,761,353

The imp of the perverse

I've mentioned the imp of the perverse in this space before. In a poker context, it's when you make a call you know you shouldn't make. It's hard to explain why this happens, but sometimes it just does. In the third tournament I entered last night, the imp struck when I'd made it to the final three, and was the chip leader. A player who'd been playing very tight all tournament went all in on the turn; I'd flopped a stealth two pair and we'd both checked the flop. I thought for a bit, knew he had some kind of a hand, but couldn't stop myself from calling. He turned over a pair of deuces, which gave him a set; my stealth two was deuces and threes, so I knew I was in for a world of hurt. The river card was icing on the cake, giving him a full house he didn't need to beat me. I lost $2,240, and hit the felt on the next hand. Live and learn!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        84     2   105000
 50000       800           6        46     1   195000
 50000       800           6        53     3        0

delta: $147,600
tournament balance: $1,297,690
balance: $6,428,421

The imp of the perverse

Wednesday night, I lost a ton of chips. $80K worth, to be precise. The maximum starting stake at two consecutive tables. Both hands that I rode to the felt, I had no business going all in on. What's more, I knew as I was going all in that I had no business doing it -- both times. Edgar Allan Poe called such behavior "the imp of the perverse".

Each all in disobeyed one of my poker rules. The first one disobeyed the rule, "Never go all in on a two pair". The second one disobeyed the rule, "Never go all in on a draw". Even though I gave in to the imp of the perverse, I'm not getting down on myself; actually, part of me is kind of proud that I had the nerve to go all in in these situations. You need nerve in poker, and you can't easily acquire it; it's much simpler just to have it in the first place :-) Without nerve, I'd never have been able to win some of the big pots I've won.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 85 hands and saw flop:
- 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
- 11 out of 15 times while in small blind (73%)
- 45 out of 57 times in other positions (78%)
- a total of 65 out of 85 (76%)
Pots won at showdown - 6 of 15 (40%)
Pots won without showdown - 6

delta: $-80,000
balance: $952,384